OPINION: Some thoughts on improving our education system

In these trying times we must be careful to protect the pillars of our democracy. One of the most important of these is education. No one can deny that our education system, from kindergarten to college, has come under much criticism in recent years.

In a recent speech, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos highlighted many of the deficiencies she feels need to be improved. The following list was included in her presentation.

- “Performance of our students in comparison to those in other nations of the world is mediocre. With the highest spending for education in the world, should American students be ranking 23rd in reading, 25th in Science, and 40th in Math?”

- “Seventeen percent of black fourth-graders performed well below average on standardized tests.”

- “Common Core, which imposed performance standards in reading and math is dead. It didn’t work.”

Secretary DeVos gave us a good look at our deficiencies but took no stand on how best to improve the situation. As should be obvious, identifying the deficiencies does not solve the problem. To solve a problem we need to create a planning mechanism that deals with the primary questions that need to be answered. These include 1) What are the deficiencies that need to be corrected? 2) How can the deficiencies be corrected? And 3) who has the best possibility of correcting the deficiencies?

However, before we get to those questions we need to ascertain who needs to be around the table answering those questions. Input must be solicited from teachers, those who train teachers, administrators, state and federal officials, and last but certainly not least, the students and parents involved in our current educational approach.

We cannot follow the failing pattern used in Congress related to our Health Care program. There, only three months ago 100 Senators went behind closed doors and brought us a plan that had no input from those involved in the nation’s health care system. It was never even brought to a vote. A faulty process is doomed to produce a faulty outcome.

So, what should we do first? I raised that question several years ago with a state committee charged with making improvements in a state education system. Comments that came back from committee members were more like knee-jerk reactions. The first said, “We need to get rid of all these bad teachers.” A second person said, “We have to stop the wasteful spending.”

As a long time school administrator I would be the first proponent of a good teacher evaluation system. However, there are two possible outcomes to a teacher evaluation system: 1) fire the bad teachers, or 2) initiate measures to help teachers improve. I am a strong proponent of the latter. There are many reasons for that. Not the least is that we work hard to attract young people into the teaching profession and we spend much to train them. We shouldn’t, as my grandmother used to say, “throw out the baby with the bath water.”

Secretary DeVos was right. We spend more money on educating our citizens than any other country in the world. However, Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” The key to the future of American public education is in planning. We need to focus on identifying the issues and solving them. We need to identify our best educational planners and get them together with purpose.

Thomas Jefferson was, perhaps, the strongest proponent of a public school system that educated every citizen. He said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

This column is the first of three that will deal with the issues affecting our education system and will suggest the beginnings of a plan to improve our educational approaches.